September Gessie Photos

Happy, Did not mean to miss your question.... Yes I put saran wrap on the top of the tub with the leaves... I can't find the date I put them down but I am going to say some where around April, May. I just took leaves of my own to try and see if I could get them to live... They did live but I find it harder then rooting in water for me... So most of these are going to be just doubles of what I have...
Don, the picture above that I think you are talking about is called Velma.
Hugs,
Susan
PS. Forgot the picture for Bonnie of Texas Zebra

Lynn,
I am not lying... for real more then half if not more should be dead... I even let them wilt a few time... I am not proud of that but it has been more crazy here then normal... My son and his love Britt who have been living together for several years dropped a bomb about a month ago they are getting married in Oct of 2009. This is going to be a BIG wedding and I am not fancy person and I hate shopping BUT so I did not leave it to the last min. Britt and I hit the shops for 3 days... This is awful for me.. I can't tell you how I hate shopping... BUT I did get a dress that passed Britts approval LOL and also a pant suit for the bridal shower... Now for shoes... but I love buying shoes ... I almost had a heart attach when I finally got around to looking at the leaves Jim sent me as I knew I had not put water in the cups for over a week or so... I was shocked to find not only did they not die but had babies growing ... Go figure... Then one day I took a scissors to all streps and thought I killed them that way but hey as you can see they are blooming and growing great ...LOL
Hugs,
Susan
PS.. This picture is Texas Zebra a Sinn... Keyring gave it to me over a year ago...

Hi All ,

Susan I will have to go and find the thread about rooting the strep leaves in water as I would like to try that , I have been rooting them in soil but as with you it is hard sometimes to keep up with the right amount of water , do you add anything like superthrive to the water and do you at times as they get root add fertilizer ? ........sorry to ask you but just wondered , i will try and find the thread , thank you , I adore your pics , here are some of my babies :)

Connie

Gorgeous Susan! Silvia is my favorite.Look at all those babies,I tried rooting in water and had no luck.Your sinningia are looking great.Nice to see you posting woman ^_^ Did I tell you I met keyring at the convention? She's a sweetheart!

avp at,your violets are so pretty! lucie demers is a cutie.

Bonnie,your sinningia is a beauty! I love the leaves on that one.

Connie, your tray of babies look great! What mix/ratios did you use?
I hope my babies will look like yours and Sue's!!!! Wish me luck!

Shanika

Yes, Velma was the one I was referring to, but all of your streps are lovely. ^_^

oh wow, i did not notice you did post the names of the sinningia's, i must be brain dead today lol thanks for the info.
mrsbonnie

here's the thread about rooting in water.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/967999/

Connie, wow,your babies look great too!

Connie, YOU GROW GIRL.... they look GREAT... Bonnie, you are not brain dead :-) After you asked me the names I went back and put the names there...LOLOLOL So you are ok... I am brain dead....
Connie, I have added the leaves with just plain water or used some fert... I do nothing special to them anymore...LOL NEVER don't ask a question here as you are not alone... We all have been in your shoes and I for one still ask tons of questions... It is how we all learn... Ask Gail, when I came here to play bingo I never heard of a strep...LOLOL I asked Gail in dmail and she was shocked...LOLOL Always a thank you to Gail for opening my eyes to streps... Jan, Silvia was one of my first streps and she is one of my favorites...
When I get around to potting up my babies and if some of you don't mind not knowing the names I can ship you a few... I can tell you the names after they bloom or for sure someone here can... Now I have to tell you this may be awhile...LOLOL I have had kohlerias here for Jan for months and have not shipped but I am hoping my moods are under control so I can be a nice again.
Hugs,
Susan

Hi , Jan thank you for the link to the thread about Sue's water rooting , you are a dear and again thank you for helping me with the Sweet Suzanne Av , I like to have the right names :) and thank you for the compliment on my babies :) I try but sometimes after this point they do the drying up and dieing thing that just makes me crazy but live and learn so I hope I do :)


Shanika , I have been using more perlite lately but it was only about a 1/3 in this tray and I just use medical grow potting soil as I don't know where to buy promix but I will keep my eyes open for it in future :) I also add vermiculite , but only 1/4 and I am now adding some of the worm castings that Jim told us about , can't say how that will work as I have just started using it .

May I say how very dear I find you all to be , you all take such interest in each others plant troubles and give so many helpful tips , and post beautiful pics .......................you are all so dear , thank you all for so kind , I wish I could meet you all but this is the next best thing :)

Warm Thank You Hugs To You All ,

Connie :)


the plant name is ..............Optimara Mellennia if you like it you would also like Crimson Ice , the color is darker , more red and gorgeous :)

This message was edited Sep 7, 2009 7:39 PM

After rereading my post on water reading I can now tell you Connie I put the leaves down in Feb, 2009...
Susan

I can agree with you there Connie, These ladies and Gents are the best.... I am very glad I came here to play bingo :-) Also Connie I find that one or two leaves to a cup is ok.. If you add many more they tend to rot....
Hugs,
Susan

Oh Susan you are soooooooooooooooooooo nice and helpful , a sweetheart to be sure :) I love to read all the things people write , I always smile at the sweetness and the humor of you all and I love the pics and Susan I too didn't know what a strep was , I had heard the name but thought it was one of those hospital plants that need a greenhouse to live and as soon as they are done blooming you either have to buid a greenhouse , give it back to one or throw it out :)........................I didn't know that I was destined to fall in love with another kind of plant till i on a whim bought 2 streps from a lady on ebay because I love fantasy flowers and couldn't resist and now i want everyone I see , mores the pity for me LOL I am a plant addict and it isn't an addiction I want to be cured of :) so now I am surrounded by AVs , streps and many other kinds of plants , some much older than my kids and they are grown :)

Jan I agree your Silvia is gorgeous , she is one of my favorites as well and mine is safe from my baby killing ways as she is a very large plant and so can fight me off :) I really don't know what it is I do wrong to the small streps but I must not do it all the time as my big streps were once tiny too and they survived my killing talent LOL glad I don't affect people that way :)

Connie

Connie, what is the name of that gorgeous pic you posted!!!!

Jim King told me I could order Pro Mix from any True Value store.............haven't done it because I still have tons of Volkmann's wicking mix..........but intend to let them order some Pro mix for me........
Night night........tired........

I was so tired of those stupid gnats that kept flying around that I believe it was Jan,Lynn, or Leaf that told me to try the Pro Mix.. Also told me that my miricale grow most likely had eggs hatch out... Well low and behold I have used Pro Mix for almost a year I think and I love it and not so many gnats... Now don't get me wrong a few here and there but before it drove me nuts.
I am not sure if I even have one alive still but one that has given me allot of trouble to grow has been Seren... If I get to check babies with names I have to send one to Wild Irish Rose... I told her back in the spring I would grow her one then I had been nursing two and not doing great with it.. So I really don't know what is in the babies... I know I bought me a new one off ebay but that one also did not look to good... Oh well we win some we loose some...
Well everyone here kept telling me about streps this and streps that.. Then Gail was going to send me some cutting to try to root diffrent things... Thats when I had to ask what is a strep...LOLOL
Hugs,
Susan

susan I hate the little buggers too so I will see where I can find the promix , maybe at home depot , i will have to go and look this weekend but thNK YOU FOR THE TIP ........OOPS CAPS , always do that looking for the............ a LOL the little buggers like to dive bomb into my tea from time to time so I always look before sipping , I was told or read that if you take Popsicle sticks and paint them yellow and put vaseline on the ends and stand them in the pots that the knats would fly to the yellow color and stick to the vaseline ,,,,,,,,,ewwwwwwwww nothing like a bunch of sticks all over with dead knats all over them , but I guess if it works it is a good thing :) thank you for the help ladies and I wish you a warm goodnight and sweet dreams in the arms of slumber :) night night

Connie :)

Hello all, I just want to chime in and say thank you for the advice, too! I just ordered 3 streps from plant_maniac on ebay. Ok, no more plants until I clean out my bookshelves and hang up some lights... I'm out of window space and my husband does not want any more plants in the kitchen, lol!

Good Good Morning all ,


I hope you all have a good day , speaking of ebay , I thought maybe you might like the link to Fred , I left it for Shanika last night as she was looking for him and couldn't find him , Gail and I have bought from him and he sends tiny perfect jewels and they grow into big gems so in case any of you are interested here is the link :)

Hugs,
Connie

http://shop.ebay.com/thegreenmule/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=

I bought more from him last night (LOL)
avPat is the one who hooked us up to Fred.........

****edited to say that our box stores like Lowe's and Home Depot won't order Pro mix down here but any hardware store like True Value and Ace will order anything I need.

This message was edited Sep 8, 2009 7:35 AM

Forgot to mention that RainGazer has some good plants (sinningias and all the 'weird good stuff')on both marketplace and on ebay!!!

By the way, if I don't have a True Value or Ace here, where's the best place to order Pro mix? Or should I get the mix that VioletBarn or Logees sells? I've been using Organic plus from Walmart, but I keep reading that promix is lighter and better and more sterile.

I ordered 3 plants from plant_maniac on ebay! I have to make myself rules about how often I can order plants, lol!

Ellen- Valley View Farms sells Pro-Mix

I don't know where Valley View Farms is but that is great news for raisingsouls!!!!

I would never buy mix from a vendor..............too expensive................
Although I did order Volkmann's wicking mix long ago and had it sent by truck........lots of it.......am still using it..........

Shanika- thanks- I appreciate that! I'll have to go over there.

Gessiegail, thanks- so tell me how you make your own mix or what you do to save money.

Right now, I am still using up all this expensive wicking mix from Volkman's. When it is gone, I am going to order Pro mix and then, depending on what part of the country you live in, you will have to play with how much vermiculite and perlite you add. Some people use 1/3 of each of the pro mix, vermiculite and perlite. (I live in 90% humidity so I may not have the same mix)................

Good luck and talk to Jim (bigoldbuck). He lives in North Dakota and uses pro mix........see what he does. He has over 500 kinds of streps so I know he goes through the mix in a hurry.......

If you go to this site it gives a list of dealers who carry Pro Mix.
http://www.premierhort.com/eProMix/index.htm

In Texas, those are all wholesalers.......BWI is the biggest wholesaler to nurseries. I wonder why the nurseries don't carry it.........

What is in the Pro mix? Is it like vermiculite?

Pat

My best understand is that it is peat except that it has trace elements and all kinds of good stuff in it????? Does anyone else know?

According to the Greenhouse Mega Store:

Description Pro-Mix BX is a GENERAL PURPOSE peat-based growing medium with vermiculite and perlite, used for the cultivation of a wide variety of plant species.

According to P. Allen Smith Garden Home:

For over 35 years, PRO-MIX has been renowned as high-performance growing media preferred by horticulture professionals, worldwide. PRO-MIX also offers OMRI Listed Growing Media for outdoor, organic gardening. In addition, an exclusive biostimulant, Mycorise® is incorporated to ensure stronger, healthier plants... naturally.

This message was edited Sep 8, 2009 4:36 PM

Jim had said it is definitely a mix as opposed to straight peat.............with some advantages over making your own with peat. He adds a lot of perlite to his Pro mix..........Jim, where are you?

Thanks, Don..........

I also add a lot of perlite when planting my streps... I really like it.. Much better then anything I was using before.... I am still using the bag my son got me for xmas last year... He took a fit when I told him that is what I wanted.. LOL
Hugs,
Susan

I remember you telling that story!

I think I will post a few pics, but enjoy them because everytime I try and take a plant off the shelves, I drop it as you will see. So.........I may get like Susan and just take pics from the stands without names (LOL).
Chirita 'Nimbus' (not clear)

An unknown and unmarked av from LLG. I think (I know) she is a trailer.

Cupid's Jewel fell out of my hands after this picture and on the floor.

And here is the mess...........those are coffee filters for shading certain plants from the lights.

Baby Russian 'White NIghts'. If you look closely you can see the white in dots in each bloom.

AV 'Tsarina'
I am having trouble uploading to DG.........have to go back to the tennis match.......will post tomorrow.

Love the pictures, Gail!

I have a few trailers from Robs, and I'm so new at this- what do trailers look like when they are big? Can they spill out over a hanging basket?

Here's the deal: If I finish my work by 2pm, I'm going to run out and buy promix today!